The Fireworks Feast at Chef Michael Smith’s Inn at Bay Fortune is a foodie experience that you’ll never forget! I think I was pretty lucky to attend on a night when Chef Michael was ‘in the house’, but even if he wasn’t there it would still be an evening full of delicious food and wonderful experiences to remember!
Upon arrival (if you’re early!) you can grab drinks before the walk around the farm. It was cold and rainy but we still made the trek out to the gardens for a description of the Inn’s philosophy about gardening, including topics such as weeds, fertilizer, fallow, and many other things. I’m a Professional Agrologist and home gardener and my friend Lisa is a Professional Biologist and has a huge garden on her property in Saskatchewan, so we were both absorbing what farm manager Kevin Petrie had to say (and I was also amazed at how much I already knew!).
After the garden tour we met Chef Michael at a big fire pit where he and his staff were grilling fresh oysters with lovage butter (which he called ‘love butter’ LOL). I’d never before tried lovage, but it’s a herb that tastes very much like celery. Chef Michael said there was more than one oyster per person so I think I had three! Chef Michael is really passionate about his property and the local food that he serves – it was really neat to see his passion come through in such a small group.
We were a bit chilly after being out in the rain so we were happy to head back to the Inn for all you can eat local oysters and appetizers from three stations, prior to the big supper. I have to admit that I ate enough food in the next hour (before supper) that I was practically full by the time we sat down to eat (the food was all so good!).
Outside, a taco station rotates the flavours daily, depending on the protein that is available and the herbs and veggies that are in season. I have to say, this was the best taco (or more honestly, the best tacos) I’ve ever had. With grilled pork sirloin, eggplant butter, shiitake, bacon, leek and garden herbs, these babies were super delicious – full of umami! Even the tortillas were homemade with pork lard!
On the other side of the building was the largest Green Egg on the east coast. At the ‘Sausage Pit’, they served grilled cinnamon & cumin lamb sausages with three very different sauces – green chilli & lime aioli; rosemary honey mustard; and nasturtium & lavender pesto. The sausages weren’t cooked fast enough and the station didn’t have much room so it was very slow and very awkward to maneuver around (but delicious).
At the oyster station, I made friends with the guy standing closest to the edge… he just kept handing me freshly chucked oysters – as fast as he could chuck them, I was eating them 🙂 With no limits, why not!? The oysters were served with a bloody mary ice… but in my time on PEI I realized I don’t need to add anything to my oysters or quahogs – just give ’em to me fresh and they taste divine (oh, and I’m also a chewer LOL).
But perhaps the best part of the night was when Chef Michael photo bombed me…
The other delicious appetizer station inside was serving a homemade cracker with smoked salmon and a black garlic and fennel aioli. OMG this was heaven… Seriously, amazing – full of textures and flavours that delighted all of my tastebuds, I again, had too many of these puppies.
Prior to supper we all joined each other around the fire and Chef Michael toasted the local fishermen who supplied all the awesome fish and seafood, his staff, and us for coming together and supporting a local business.
Upon being seated, we were first served a ‘bread tree’… quite literally, bread in a metal tree LOL. The bread was made with heritage grains, naturally fermented and baked in the wood-fire oven. Keeping to my dairy free request, Chef Michael himself brought me my own dish of completely dairy free spreads (I can’t remember what they were), but the ones everyone else got were: minted fresh cheese, whipped maple brown butter and a happy pig & cheddar pate… there were many happy bellies with those spreads.
Their classic chowder was made with: mussels, clams, scallops, lobster, crab, halibut, salt cod, bacon, potato, carrot, celery, onion, herbs and dulse, served with their little bread anchors. Mine was served without cream but everyone else’s looked delectable. There was so much seafood in this chowder!
The ‘today’s catch’ dish was a duo of sustainably hooked bluefin tuna items: bluefin tuna tataki with chili salt and tuna tomato jam and a bluefin tuna tartare with smoked almond, lime, coriander, and tomatillo, served with a smoked tomato and roasted jalapeño & honey puree. A beautiful plating, that’s for sure.
Our salad course was a creative approach to present what grows above the ground and what grows below the ground. Our ‘earth plate’ presented us with a number of earthly ingredients – a root puree trio, ash baked beet, smoked parsnip & roasted carrot, lentil sprouts, and ‘seedy soil’. The ‘harvest bowl’ to share, included herbs, shoots, stalks, stems, leads, buds, greens, flowers, and other delicate items that grow mostly above ground (and popcorn!?), all tossed with the house vinaigrette. We were asked to be creative – to mix it together how we wanted – we could taste everything on its own or paired with something else… it was a neat way to think about what we were eating (and it was a darned good salad!).
The main course consisted of a swiss chard wrapped island wagyu beef pastrami, fire grilled island eye of round steak with au jus, served with shiitake, carrots, turnip, cabbage, onion, beets, zucchini, radish, tallow potato and oregano. Yum!
The main dessert was a ginger spice cake with a mulled apple compote with rosemary and cherry, a pecan crumble with a melted barley anglaise, all served with a buttermilk ice cream. Of course I got something a little bit different to keep it dairy free… and by this point I was so stuffed I don’t know if I even knew what I was eating LOL.
All in all, this was a foodie experience that all foodies need to partake in. If you can, book your travel out there on a tour bus because it’s an hour drive from Charlottetown (I didn’t know you could do this until we were there and saw the giant bus) (or make sure one of you is a DD) so you can enjoy some wine with your dinner. I think you need to get the whole experience of gluttony at this place!
If you’re ever on the east coast, you really need to go…
@innatbayfortune
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